IN THIS ISSUE:

FRONT ROW

Youth- and School-Based Sports:
    • A Revolutionary Idea From the Brits
    • Are You a Sports Parent Enabler?
    • Is Pouring It On Ever Justified?
Collegiate Sports: Nebraska Track Coach Honored For Character As Well As Success
Jocks Behaving Badly: Finish All Your Steroids, or No Dessert
Jocks Behaving Exceptionally:
    • Sportsmanship Was More Valuable to These
     Wrestlers
    • Honest to a Fault
    • Winning and Sportsmanship Can Coexist
    • Miss One for the Gipper
    • Giving Back Just Took On a Whole New Meaning

SIDELINES

Announcements
Trivia Test: What Was the Worst “Pouring It On” Game in College Football History?
Sportsmanship User’s Guide: TV’s Teachable Moments
You Make the Call: Should Michael Phelps’s Sponsors Have Punished or Ignored His Pot Use?
Principle of the Month: Sports Permeates Society
Say What?
Trivia Test Answer
Michael Josephson Commentary: An Opportunity Disguised As a Problem

FRONT ROW

YOUTH- AND SCHOOL-BASED SPORTS

A Revolutionary Idea From the Brits

“We changed our format to positive coaching – an idea from the U.S.A., which is more on fair play.”

That comment was from Andrew Baird, coordinator for Queen Anne High School in West Fife, England. But judging by what’s going on in their primary schools, we may have more to learn from them.

West Fife’s schools are refereed by players, not officials, and scores aren’t recorded. Winners are given points for shaking hands, for not swearing, and for silence from parents and coaches. No pressure is placed on the young athletes. Games are played without criticism or direction. Emphasis is on fun and skill development, not competition.

Before, teams collected points for wins during tournaments.

Now each coach assesses the other teams and marks them up or down for language, sportsmanship, etc.

Before, half the teams would play three matches, lose, get eliminated, and the kids would be back at school by lunchtime, not feeling good about themselves and not having enjoyed it.

Now the sportsmanship results aren’t released until the end, they all play seven or eight matches, and everyone has a chance of winning right up to the end.

“Lots of folks complained: 'What’s this non-competitive stuff?’” Baird told Dunfermline.press.com. “But they’re fully competitive. Competition is good. But these are primary school kids. At that age, they should focus on fun and enjoyment rather than winning a cup.”

[dunfermlinepress.com, 11/14/08]

Are You a Sports Parent Enabler?

It’s not hard to conclude that the misbehavior and misconduct displayed by many college and pro athletes is because the individuals feel entitled to do so. Guess where that attitude came from?

Michael Boyle of Strengthcoach.com addressed this issue with these lessons for sports parents:

• You won’t always be there to pave the way for your child, fix things, argue with coaches, etc. Constantly insulating kids from difficult situations and consistently cleaning up their mess defeats the purpose of sports.

• Sports are about learning to succeed and fail, not just to succeed. Sports should primarily provide life lessons. If the lesson is that Mom and Dad can and will fix everything, later life will be difficult. If the lesson is that sports are what are really important, be prepared for big problems down the road.

• Failure lessons are often more important than the successes. We screw things up when we attempt to alter the normal path. Failures experienced at 21 are far more painful than those at 12. You don’t do your child a service by protecting him or her; you’re doing a disservice.

• The next time you make a decision involving your child’s sports, ask yourself: “Am I preparing the child for the path or the path for the child?”

[strengthcoach.com, 12/6/08]

Is Pouring It On Ever Justified?

Last month we wrote about a Texas high school basketball coach who was fired after routing an opponent 100-0. Coaches, players, and analysts across the country weighed in on the controversy, and not everyone agreed, including Michael Josephson and John Naber.

Josephson Institute founder Michael Josephson:
This is not a close question. The ultimate goal of coaching is teaching good life skills. When Wilt Chamberlain scored 100, he did it against a professional team. It’s a huge difference when you’re dealing with children.

It’s a terrible black eye to believe people are defending the proposition that there’s anything worthwhile about that type of game.

Hall of Fame Olympic swimmer John Naber:
Running up the score is not inherently bad or harmful. Trying to do your best honors the sport and respects your opponent. There are many reasons to keep up the pressure, even if the chance of a loss is non-existent:

• Athletes might get hurt if they practice a skill or maneuver at one speed and perform it at another.
• Certain plays take place at a certain pace. If players are instructed to change that pace, they won’t learn the plays correctly.
• Players coming off the bench want and need to prove themselves in the coaches’ eyes.
• While sports should not be about only winning and losing, the only fair way to measure progress is against a firm (not flexible) standard.
• The only way to give it your all is to give it your all.
• Opponents want to play with and against the best, if only to watch excellence in person.
• Competition should not be about which team (or player) is better, but about how good a team (or player) can actually be.
• The reason we keep score is to measure performance.
• Every child needs to know he or she is a person of value, but not every child needs to know he or she is a competent athlete.
• Victory is out.

In the 100-0 game, the question should not be whether or not the losing players were embarrassed. It should be: Were they more embarrassed than if the score had been 45-0?

In my early swimming days, I was beaten on a regular basis, but I would have been much more disappointed if the other swimmers had waited for me on the wall at each turn before continuing.

If I were a basketball coach, I’d like to think I would teach my players certain skills and would want to see those skills demonstrated well and often.

If my second team got into the game, the only way they could demonstrate their desire to become starters would be to perform the skills as they had been taught. Purposely missing shots, slowing passes, or limping down the court would do nothing to improve their skills and would disrespect their teammates and opponents.

The ideal solution would be to have a mercy rule to stop a rout and reconstitute BOTH teams with players from both sides. This would allow slower players the chance to hone their skills and force better players to improve their teammates’ performance. An ideal game is when everyone’s playing at their best.

Should Usain Bolt have slowed down at the end of his 2008 Olympic sprints because his victories were no longer in doubt? Should Tiger Woods intentionally miss putts so as not to win tournaments by large margins?

Lance Armstrong once stopped his bicycle during a stage of the Tour de France to allow a rider who had gone off course the opportunity to rejoin the race. Then Lance promptly took off, leaving his opponent in the dust. I praise Lance for that sportsmanlike gesture, but I wouldn’t if he’d done it because the opponent was merely slow.

Michael Josephson likes to point out that today’s morality lessons often don’t come with clearly articulated morals as in the past. Does the following story ring a bell?

In the children’s fable, a tortoise and a hare enter a clearly uneven race. The hare dashes ahead while the tortoise plods along at a much slower pace. The hare is so far ahead that he stops and takes a leisurely nap. The tortoise, having greater discipline, keeps moving toward the goal, eventually passes the rabbit, and wins the race. The moral: Keep trying regardless of the likely outcome.

And one more: Even if you’re far ahead, never take victory for granted.

COLLEGIATE SPORTS

Nebraska Track Coach Honored
For Character As Well As Success

At the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame ceremony in Phoenix, Arizona, last December, Nebraska coach Gary Pepin was inducted for being, among other things, “one of the nation’s best recruiters because he can sell Nebraska to the best student-athletes.”

One incident in 1994 sums up Pepin’s devotion to the sport and the principles of sportsmanship. At the men’s outdoor track and field championships in Lawrence, Kansas, the title came down to the final event – the 4x400 relay. Iowa State was 10 points ahead of second-place Nebraska going into the race. All it had to do was finish the race and it would win.

When the team stepped to the line, however, it did so in violation of the relay uniform code. Nebraska’s coaches noticed the infraction, which is punishable by disqualification. If they protested, they would win the crown.

Pepin instructed his assistants not to file a protest. “I don’t want to win the championship that way,” assistant coach Mark Colligan recalls Pepin telling them. Nebraska fell just short of the title, 176-171.

When Iowa State coach Steve Lynn heard about Pepin’s gesture, he rushed to Nebraska’s bus just before it left for Lincoln. Thanking Pepin for his decision, he asked if he could speak to the Nebraska team.

Lynn addressed the startled Cornhusker athletes by saying, “Gentlemen, I know you’re all hurting right now, and I understand how it feels to come so close. I just want to tell you that there’s no program with more heart and class than yours. The great sportsmanship you’ve shown today will never be forgotten by our program, team, and staff.”

[www.huskers.com, 12/30/08]

JOCKS BEHAVING BADLY

Finish All Your Steroids, or No Dessert

Officers in Gilbertville, Iowa, responding to a call about a 14-year-old boy assaulting his mother, found a syringe and more than 100 anabolic steroid pills in the boy’s bedroom.

The boy admitted that his father, who lives in Mason City, had given him the pills during weekend visitation to motivate him about sports.

His father was arrested for distributing a controlled substance to a minor.

[newsblaze.com, 1/13/09]

JOCKS BEHAVING EXCEPTIONALLY

Sportsmanship Was More
Valuable to These Wrestlers

Erik Rueckle, Union-Endicott High, Endicott, NY
Sophomore wrestler Erik Rueckle won not only the 130-pound class in a Christmas tournament but also took away the Most Outstanding Wrestler award.

The next day, after witnessing Windsor High School’s Jesse Holton pin his opponent in the 96-pound final – just moments after Jesse’s father was rushed to the hospital after passing out during his son’s match – Rueckle decided Jesse deserved the award more than him. He gave it to the boy’s coach.

“I didn’t think twice about it,” Rueckle said afterward. “What he did was really inspirational. He deserved it more than anyone else.”

Rueckle’s coach, John Giacche, wasn’t surprised. “Erik’s one of those kids who always seems to make the right decision. It’s great to have a kid like that.”

Jeff Nolan, Windsor’s coach, concurred. “Knowing Erik, I’m not surprised with what he did. For somebody his age to have the maturity to show empathy for another athlete is impressive.”

Charlie Costanzo, Danbury High, Danbury, CT
In last year’s final match to decide New England’s 119-pound champion, Costanzo met undefeated three-time champ Kenny Anderson of Billerica, Massachusetts.

With under a minute left, Costanzo was outmatched and desperate, down 5-0.

All week he’d been practicing a new 5-point move with his coach called the "Cement Job Special" for just such a situation. Costanzo tried the move and to his surprise, it worked, rolling Anderson over on his back. Costanzo was awarded two points for the takedown and three back points. The match was tied.

But Anderson escaped from the hold just seconds before the match ended and was awarded the winning point, 6-5.

That summer the rumors began circulating. It seems Anderson had been suspended from school the day before the New England tournament but had gotten a temporary restraining order from the court to allow him to compete.

But Anderson failed to attend his hearing, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association forfeited his eligibility for the tournament. Anderson wasn’t supposed to wrestle that day.

Days later, Anderson’s school sent Costanzo the first-place plaque.

“I didn’t feel right about taking it,” Costanzo told NewsTimesLIVE.com. “They might have written it down on the books that I was champion, but he beat me. I sent it back to him.”

“What a tremendous act of sportsmanship and compassion for a fellow wrestler,” Norman Winnerman, executive secretary for the South-West Conference, said afterward. “Absolutely a class act on the part of this young man. Whether Charlie realizes his dream of championships this season, he needs to know he already is a great champion. The rest will be icing on the cake.”

[newstimes.com, 12/16/08, 12/21/08; pressconnects.com, 1/8/09]

Honest to a Fault

During the 2008 America East Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Maine last year, Latasha Jarrett of the University of Hartford was competing simultaneously in the heptathlon and high jump in hopes of making the NCAA nationals.

After clearing the opening high jump height of 5’0,” she ran the 800-meter portion of the heptathlon. When she returned to the high jump, the other competitors had all cleared 5’2” and the bar was being raised to 5’4.”

Jarrett told the official she hadn't yet cleared 5’2,” but he told her she was on record as clearing it. She was told she could get the free pass to 5’4” or he could lower the bar back to 5’2” for her.

She told him to lower it, knowing any miss she might make at that height could jeopardize her chances of winning later.

She faulted on her first jump, and that miscue dropped her to third place. She narrowly missed the NCAA finals.

For her honesty, Jarrett was named the NCAA Division I Sportswoman of the Year. “I never thought such a natural and honest decision would get so much attention,” she said during her award ceremony. “I am very proud and excited that I’ve been able to make an impact.”

[Hartford.edu, 1/23/09]

Miss One for the Gipper

The mood was dark and somber when Milwaukee Madison played DeKalb (Illinois) last month in a high school basketball game. Earlier that day, the mother of Johntell Franklin, Milwaukee’s senior captain, had passed away at the age of 39 from cervical cancer.

Milwaukee’s coach, Aaron Womack, and several players rushed to the hospital to be with him. “Tell the guys to go out and do their best,” the stricken Franklin told them.

They were late getting back, delaying the start of the game. Another stoppage occurred in the second quarter when Franklin walked into the gym. Fans, friends, and teammates surrounded him. But he had an even bigger surprise for them. He wanted to suit up and play.

Since his coach hadn't put his name in the official scorebook, officials said Milwaukee would be assessed a technical foul. DeKalb’s coaches and players, however, refused to shoot it. Rules are rules, the officials said. Neither side budged.

Finally, DeKalb conceded. Coach Dave Rohlman gathered his players and asked which one wanted to shoot the two free throws. Senior point guard Darius McNeal raised his hand. Rohlman stared at him. “You realize you’re going to miss, right?”

At the free-point line, McNeal dribbled the ball a couple of times, looked at the rim, and chucked the ball about two feet. It rolled behind the basket. The official retrieved the ball and gave it back to him.

When Milwaukee’s players realized what was happening, they turned toward DeKalb’s bench and started applauding. So did everyone in the stands. McNeal’s second shot barely left his hand.

“I did it for the guy who lost his mom,” he told the Journal Sentinel later. “It was the right thing to do.”

Womack wrote a letter to the DeKalb Daily Chronicle the next day, praising the gesture by his opponent’s coaching staff and players. “We maybe don’t have the best basketball players in the world, but they go to class and take care of business,” Womack told the Associated Press. “There’s life lessons going on. Good ones.”

The letter was huge back in DeKalb and became a testament to the school. “This is something our kids will hold for a lifetime,” Rohlman told the AP. “They may not remember our record 20 years from now, but they’ll remember what happened in that gym that night.”

[Journal Sentinel, 2/16/09; Associated Press, 2/19/09]

Giving Back Just Took On
A Whole New Meaning

The paradigm has shifted. When college basketball coaches recruit players from high school from now on, they won’t be scouring for the next Derrick Rose, OJ Mayo, or Kevin Love. They want the next Taylor Rochestie.

You may not know the name, but you can bet every college coach in the nation does. Rochestie, a minor player for Washington State last year, averaging 4.6 points and 2 assists during the school’s 26-9 season, decided to help his team improve even more this year by giving up his $25,000 scholarship so the institution could sign Marcus Capers, a prize 6-4 recruit from Montverde Academy in Florida.

“This shows how much of a leader and great teammate Taylor is,” Washington’s national coach of the year Tony Bennett told the Associated Press. “For him to want to do something like this to help establish the future of our program in this manner is just incredible.”

[USA Today, 10/5/07]

Coaches: How to Hone Your Practices With Character Our brand-new True Champions Practice Points spiral-bound handbook helps you effortlessly weave character lessons and teachable moments into team meetings and practices. Part of our Pursuing Victory With Honor sportsmanship program, the 72-page manual ($24.95) features 36 comprehensive “practice points” based on memorable sports moments and famous quotes. Help your student-athletes develop sportsmanship, character, and integrity and become true champions on and off the field. Archives of Past Issues 2009 2008 January 2009 February 2009 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 FREE E-NEWSLETTERS SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE CHARACTER COUNTS! Chronicle (monthly character-education topics) Commentary (weekly character essays by Michael Josephson) Pursuing Victory With Honor (monthly sportsmanship topics) ANNOUNCEMENTS National Sportsmanship Day To celebrate National Sportsmanship Day this month (March 3), we offer a number of ways to keep character front and center in your sports program including 10 Tenets for Pursuing Victory With Honor. Attention Sports Parents and Coaches We’ve got two new online surveys/self-assessments on sports values and conduct for you to check out: Teacher-coaches, administrators, and parents Student-athletes (If you’re a sports parent, please urge your children to take this survey.) More Contests for Creative Teens We’re launching three new MyLife 24-7 contests: one for blogging, one for designing a new T-shirt, and one for writing and performing a theme song. Learn more here.

	TRIVIA TEST
What Was the Worst “Pouring It On” Game in College Football History? See the answer below.
	SPORTSMANSHIP USER’S GUIDE
TV’s Teachable Moments As you watch a game on television with your child, a player taunts an opponent after making a great play. The taunted player retaliates. What should you do? One way – assert what you think: “Both players blew it. Player A made a great play but acted like a jerk. Player B should have ignored Player A’s taunt rather than letting it take him out of his game.” A better way – ask rather than tell: “What do you think about Player A’s behavior?” It’s more powerful and lasting when a young person comes to a conclusion himself or herself. Then add your thoughts. “I agree Player B may have been justified in retaliating, but I would've liked him to control himself and honor the game. Even if Player A acted like a jerk, Player B could have risen above it. I’d certainly like you to rise above your opponent’s behavior if he dishonors the game.” Adapted from Positive Sports Parenting by Jim Thompson, founder and executive director of the Positive Coaching Alliance. Learn more here.
	YOU MAKE THE CALL
Should Michael Phelps’s Sponsors Have Punished Him or Ignored His Pot Use? When this photo appeared on the Internet of Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, winner of eight gold medals in Beijing, inhaling from a marijuana bong, several of his sponsors dropped him. Others kept him. Who was right? Phelps should get no quarter. Sponsors should jettison any athletic client who tarnishes their image and his or her responsibility as a role model. Phelps should get a pass. Some of his sponsors’ products (Kellogg and McDonald’s) are arguably more harmful than pot. I’m not sure. He wasn’t competing, marijuana isn’t banned if used out of competition, and it isn’t a performance-enhancing drug. Click here to vote
	PRINCIPLE OF THE MONTH
Preamble: Sports Permeates Society The Preamble to the Arizona Sports Summit Accord states that “The love of sports is deeply embedded in our national consciousness. Sports are a major social force that shapes the quality and character of the American culture.” That statement was affirmed in three recent stories: Politicians Learning How to Be Good Sports Don’t look now, but sportsmanship seems to be making a comeback. In politics. In the months since his election, Barack Obama has been the embodiment of a good sport. He’s been gracious in victory and determined to reach out to the other side. We’ve also witnessed sportsmanlike behavior on the part of the former president. Cynics may see this as smart politics wrapped in a veneer of good sportsmanship. But when the political honeymoon ends, politicians ought to try to offer spirited opposition without the bile that has poisoned Washington for too long. And if Obama is able to usher in a return to good sportsmanship, it really will be change we can all believe in. [Kerry Dougherty, hamptonroads.com, 1/22/09] Mayor Wants Motorists to Be More Sportsmanlike Plano, Texas, Mayor Pat Evans had an unusual challenge for me: “I want you to figure out a way for one driver to apologize to another.” My mind raced to think of all the gestures exchanged between drivers. None in the category of apology came to mind. But I’m willing to try because I love the attitude. Imagine more apologetic driving. What a different, safer, saner world it would be. Then a gesture flashed to mind. It’s that thing athletes do when they take responsibility for a blown play. They tap their chest with curled fingertips to say “My bad.” It’s a nice gesture to see – a sign of character and good sportsmanship. [Steve Blow, The Dallas Morning News, 1/21/09] Trophy Shop Vows to Reverse Recession in Sportsmanship Owners Darryl and Anna Messer of Carolina Awards in Aiken, South Carolina, have made custom-engraved plaques, awards, and acrylics for 16 years. The shop sponsors three local baseball teams and fills orders for countless other team trophies. Except one. “We don’t see ‘Best Sportsmanship’ trophies anymore,” Anna said. To offset the trend, the Messers have decided to donate one Best Sportsmanship Award per every team order in 2009. “We don’t care how the teams pick who to give them to,” Anna said. “We just think sportsmanship is important in team sports.” [Suzanne Stone, Aiken Standard, 1/19/09] Nearly 50 influential leaders in sports issued the Arizona Sports Summit Accord in 1999 to encourage greater emphasis on the ethical and character-building aspects of athletic competition. Read the full text here.
	SAY WHAT?
“It’s a cold, cold day in hell.” – Former St. Louis Cardinal football great Larry Wilson after the Arizona Cardinals reached the Super Bowl for the first time “Some of you are writing slower than you did five years ago. Some of you are dressing kind of funny.” – Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb to sportswriters who said he’d lost a step “Jon Gruden can use a break – workaholic that he is. The night he was fired, he probably turned off the alarm and slept for five hours.” – Dan Daly of The Washington Times on the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ coach “A Chinese couple is seeking a cure for their daughter who’s been laughing nonstop for 12 years. No truth to the rumor she’s a Detroit Lions fan.” – Dwight Perry of The Seattle Times “Who knows what might have happened if I didn’t get Mark involved with all the supplements, steroids, and HGH. But at least I feel better about setting the record straight…My bringing the truth to surface about Mark is out of love. I want Mark to come to repentance so he can live in freedom.” – Excerpts from The McGwire Family Secret: The Truth About Steroids, a Slugger, and Ultimate Redemption, a book proposal currently making the rounds by Jay McGwire, younger brother of Mark McGwire “Man, that was some bad sportsmanship on my part. Please don’t tell my drivers.” – Joe Gibbs, 68-year-old head of Joe Gibbs Racing and former Washington Redskins coach, after flipping one of his NASCAR sponsors, chairman Norm Miller of Interstate Batteries, during a practice lap prior to their match race “I went to both Iraq and Mississippi, and I can tell you this: I'd rather go back to Iraq than Mississippi.” – Golf analyst David Feherty on his off-season "How many illegitimate children does the UC men’s basketball team have? They’re poppin’ those things out like cherry pits out of one’s mouth." – Talk radio host Bill Cunningham on the University of Cincinnati men’s basketball team. “Lumberjack edged out dairy farmer as the worst job surveyed by CareerCast.com. Somehow missing the cut: Pacman Jones’s bodyguard and John Daly’s spin doctor.” – Dwight Perry of The Seattle Times “Twenty-eight allegedly sane voters left Rickey Henderson off their Hall of Fame ballots on his first year of eligibility. If they were voters for the Evil Hall of Fame, Hitler would have had to wait until his second year.” – Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle “A surprised Gladys Farrer said her husband had indeed departed – but only for a few minutes to buy a newspaper.” – British newspaper account of 86-year-old former English amateur soccer club legend Tommy Farrer reading that his club had taken a moment before a recent game to pay tribute to him. ~ Classic From the Past ~ "I feel like I'm the best, but you're not going to get me to say that." – San Francisco 49er receiver Jerry Rice
	TRIVIA TEST ANSWER
October 7, 1916 Georgia Tech defeated Cumberland University 222-0 Although Cumberland, a school in Lebanon, Tennessee, had discontinued its football program before the season, Georgia Tech’s coach John Heisman (yes, that Heisman) threatened to fine Cumberland $3,000 (almost $60,000 in today's dollars) if its team failed to show. Why? Perhaps because Cumberland’s baseball team had crushed Georgia Tech earlier that year 22-0 by allegedly bringing in professional ringers. Georgia Tech suited up 13 fraternity members to avoid the penalty. In retrospect, they should have paid up and never stepped onto the field. After the first quarter, Tech led, 63-0. At halftime, the score was 126-0. A Cumberland historian cites Heisman as telling his players at halftime: “We’re ahead, but you just can’t tell what those Cumberland players have up their sleeves. They may spring a surprise. Be alert, men.” The only surprise was the final score. The Atlanta Journal wrote, “As a general rule, the only thing necessary for a touchdown was to give a Tech back the ball and holler, ‘Here he comes’ and ‘There he goes.’” The final stats, to this day, are almost incomprehensible: Neither team scored a first down. Georgia Tech did not attempt a pass. Georgia Tech totaled 978 yards, Cumberland -42. Georgia Tech gained 220 yards on punt returns and 220 yards on kick returns. Georgia Tech scored 12 special teams and defensive touchdowns. Georgia Tech had 0 turnovers, Cumberland had 15
	MICHAEL JOSEPHSON’S COMMENTARY
An Opportunity Disguised As a Problem I once received a note from Gwen, a youth gymnastics coach, after she learned her close friend Bill, who coached another team, had lied about some of his gymnasts’ ages to increase their chances of winning. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t want to lose Bill as a friend, but she feared that blowing the whistle on him could ruin her reputation in the close-knit gymnastics community. Let’s start by recognizing that ethical problems come in two forms: 1) discernment, where it’s difficult to determine what’s right, and 2) discipline, where it’s clear what should be done, but doing it is difficult. Gwen’s dilemma fell into the discipline category. Bill’s actions were clearly wrong and she had a responsibility to prevent them. She couldn’t let her kids down by looking the other way just because it was hard to stand up for what was right. As Edmund Burke said, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.” Gwen had to confront Bill and give him a chance to fix the problem. If he refused, she had to report him. Yes, that would probably destroy their friendship, but the sudden gap in their values had already made that inevitable. It was also likely that some colleagues would take Bill’s side, but there will always be a split between those who cheat and those who don’t. If Gwen was a coach, she was a teacher. Her problem was actually a great opportunity in disguise. Doing the right thing when it’s personally costly is the best way to teach moral courage. This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts. For an archive of Mr. Josephson’s commentaries, click here. To receive free weekly e-mail, including all five of Mr. Josephson’s commentaries from that week, please sign up here.
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